Urges Reserve Army in the Diaspora to Aid Israel in Case of New War

July 22, 1974

TEL AVIV (Jul. 21)

An Independent Liberal Party member of the Knesset has urged the creation of a reserve body of 100,000 Jewish youth in the diaspora who will be ready to come to Israel’s aid should war break out again. Hillel Seidel made the suggestion in the wake of a report from Cairo that the Egyptian Chief of Staff is setting up a United Arab Command to prepare for war, possibly in 1975, if Israel does not return occupied territory. Seidel said if Israel is seriously prepared for war it might deter the Arabs from another attack.

Seidel also noted that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat has convinced King Hussein of Jordan to compromise with the Palestinian terrorists. The two Arab leaders issued a statement saying the Palestine Liberation Organization represented the Palestinian people. Subsequently, the PLO rejected the move charging it would lead to Hussein re-establishing his rule over the West Bank rather than the creation of a separate Palestinian state. The Palestinian news agency WAFA charged in Beirut that Egypt and Jordan were trying to divide the Palestinian people and deprive them of the right to have their own state.

Shmuel Tamir, head of the Free Center Party, a member of Likud, said the Sadat-Hussein statement makes it clear that the Arabs have decided to push for a Palestinian state in addition to Jordan on the back of Israel and its destruction.